Table top or other panel



July 24, 1934. H. A. FISHER 1,967,66fi

TABLE TOP OR OTHER PANEL Filed Sept. 23, 1953 5; ness and wings 3 and 4 extending in opposite Patented July 24, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,967,666 TABLE TOP OR OTHER PANEL Henri A. Fisher, Parkersburg, W. Va., assignor to The Vitrolite Company, a corporation of West Virginia Application September 23, 1933, Serial No. 690,745

5 Claims.

Theobject of the present invention is to provide a panel of opaque structural glass or other material with edge-protecting means which shall be attractive in appearance and which not only protects the edge of the panel against damage or breakage but also permits the use of panels with rough or unfinished edge faces. 7

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, where- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a circular panel, which may be a table top, embodying the-present invention; Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Fig. l, on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 illustrating a step in the application of the protective means to the panel.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents a panel of any size or shape and of any suitable material. In the arrangement shown, the panel is round and is composed of frangible material such, for example, as opaque structural glass. The panel is surrounded by a border frame of novel construction. The border frame is composed of a body member of steel or the like and a facing or sheathing of decorative or ornamental metal which also serves to secure the frame structure to the panel. The

body member is preferably formed from a long, heavy strip or narrow plate folded upon itself along lines extending throughout the length thereof to produce a central short stem 2 of double thickdirections from one end of the stem and downwardly. The parts are so proportioned that, when the folded strip is placed against the edge of the panel with the free end of the stem engaging the 1 panel about midway between the top and bottom face of the latter, the wings 3 and 4 contact with the panel at what may be termed the upper and lower corners of the latter, respectively. The wing 3 is preferably made wide enough so that .55; the marginal portion along the free long edge extends upwardly beyond the top surface of the panel and is curved laterally, as indicated at 5; so that the freelon g edge lies close to the top of the panel a short distance inwardly from' the edge of the latter. The wing 4 is preferably of such a width that it terminates in about the plane of the bottom face of the panel. 7

The decorative sheathing or facing is in the form of a sheet metal strip 6 thinner than the material of which the body member is made; this strip being bent along the longitudinal center to form a trough into which the body member is nested. In the manufacture of the protective device one marginal section of the decorative strip, adjacent to one long edge, is bent or curled so as to follow the contour of the hooked or curved part 5 of the body member, as indicated at '7, and is continued far enough so as to extend entirely over the corresponding edge face of the sheet or plate of which the body member is composed, as indicated at 8.

When the protecting strip is set against the edge of the panel the hooked part 5 of the body member overlies the part 8 of the decorative element and presses it down on the top face of the panel so that no metal, except that of the decorative strip, remains visible.

The decorative strip is made widev enough so that it projects a material distance beyond the. free edge of the wing 4, as indicated at 9. Since the wing 4 extends down to the plane of the under face of the panel, the adjacent extension 9 of the decorative strip, of course, lies below such plane. Consequently, after the device has been set against the edge of the panel, with the hooked or curved edge portion resting on top of the panel, the part 9 may be bent laterally underneath the panel and into contact with the under face of the latter, as indicated in Fig. 2. The edgeprotecting device is now effectively interlocked with the panel to prevent it from being removed in a direction at right angles to the plane of the panel.

The edge-protecting element as a whole is preferably pre-formed so as to follow along the edge or edges to be covered thereby. In the case of a round table top, for example, the device as a whole is bent into the form of a hoop or ring that fits nicely around the panel; the meeting edges of the compound strip being welded together, as indicated at 10. This welding may be done before the device is applied to the panel, or afterwards. If a series of panels vary materially in dimensions or in edge surface configuration, so that it would be difficult to apply standardized preformed edge-protecting rings, each ring may be welded after being individually fitted to the particular panel with which it is to remain associated.

It will be seen that the protective device acts in a true sense as a buffer with respect to any blow against the same excepting possibly a blow directly against the central apex or ridge in the direction of the length of the stem portion 2. Such blows can do little harm because the stem engages with the panel halfway between the up per and lower face and there is little danger of damage occurring by reason of shocks transmitted to the same in this region. Blows against the slopes of the protective frame, on the other hand, are eifectively cushioned because the slope or wing portions do not contact with the panel except near the top and bottom of the latter.

The edge-protecting device may be regarded,- in its broader aspects, as a long trough-like mem her, the trough being preferably in the form of a flattened V, constructed and arranged to be easily applied to the ed ge of a panel and to be securely held after being applied; the trough having a central longitudinal partition therein.

While I have'illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, i do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details: thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangernents which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

1. The combination with a panel, of n edgeprotecting device comprising a trough-like member which in cross section is in the form of a flattened V extending along the edge of the panel with the panel engaged in the trough of the channel and a decorative strip engaged with and fitting the concave side of said member, the marginal portions at the free long edges of said device overlapping and engaging with the top andbottoin faces of the panel along said edge of the latter. I

'2. The combination with a panel, or an edgep'rot'ecting device comprising a trough-like Them ber extending along the edge of the panel with the panel engaged in the trough of the channel and a decorative strip engaged with and fitting the concave side of said member, the marginal por= tions at the free long edges of said device over-' lapping and engaging with the top and bottom faces of the panel along said edge of the latter, said trough-like member having a central longitudinal partition in the trough thereof, and said partition resting against the edge face of the panel about midway between the top and bottom faces of the latter.

3. The combination with a panel, of an edgeprotecting device comprising a member which in cross section is in the form of a flattened V having a central partition, said member extending along the edge of the panel with the partition element engaged with the edge face of the panel about midway between the top and bottom faces of the panel and the sloping sides of the said member engaged with the panel along the upper and lower corners, and means at the long edges of the said member overlapping and engaged with the marginal portions of the top and bottom faces of the panel.

4. The combination with a panel, of a long trough-like member extending along the edge of the panel and having the marginal portion at one long edge extending inwardly over the top of the panel and the other long edge engaged with the panel along the lower corner of the latter, and a decorative strip extending from a point between the said marginal portion of said member and the top race of the panel over the top of the said marginal portionand down across the outer face of said member beyond the plane of the bottom face of the panel and then laterally into engagement with the said bottom face of the panel.

5. A member adapted to be applied over an edge of a panel comprising a long troughdike metal strip having the marginal portion along one long free edge projecting inwardly; and a facing strip of bendable metal covering the convex face of the said member, including said marginal portion, extending around and concealing the aforesaid free edge of said member, and projecting a substantial distance beyond the other long free edge of saidmember to provide a holding lip or flange that may be bent laterally to cooperate with Said marginal portion to grip a panel be tween them. v

HENRI A. FISHER. 

